Multiple pass collaborative search in the presence of false alarms

Abstract

This paper addresses the planning of multiple collaborative searchers that are seeking to find hidden objects (i.e. mines) in environments where the sensor detection process is prone to false alarms. In such situations it is anticipated that collaboration between searchers that are examining the same sub-regions may be used to mitigate the impact of false alarms. A standard Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) analysis is conducted and the mapping between a single search pass ROC curve and an equivalent multiple search pass representation within a cumulative probability space is discussed. This mapping produces an analogous family of ROC curves for an increasing number of search passes using either a first detection or multiple occurrence performance criteria. The migration of ROC operating points is analyzed as additional search passes are included within a search plan and suggests the need to coordinate search effort with operating point selection. The mapping from waiting time event probabilities to a total error performance criterion weighted according to the cumulative probabilities of missed detection and false alarm is developed. Details of its application for threshold optimization within search planning is discussed and numerical results are provided to demonstrate the usefulness of the models in evaluating performance trade-offs.